Harry's Summer with the Cohens
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Crossover OC/Harry Potter. For safety reasons, Harry Potter has to spend the summer holidays at the Cohens'. A Harry/Ryan & Kirsten bonding story. Compl. AU after HP book 5 / O.C. after the Cohens take Ryan in season 1 . sick!Ryan, sick!Harry, no slas
1. Prologue

A.N.: _Please note that I've never watched O.C. – I only read a few brilliant fanfiction stories, and I couldn't resist the urge to write a little drabble myself, followed by this cross-over. Everything is completely AU – for Harry Potter from the end of book five onwards, for O.C. from the point where the Cohens take Ryan in. The O.C. characters might be very OOC, since I only know them from other fanfictions, but this is a Harry+Ryan & the Cohens bonding story. __No slash, only friendship of course. _

_Please also understand that I am not a native speaker of English. Therefore, please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Thank you for your kind understanding!  
_

_I don't own any of the characters. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._

**Harry's Summer with the Cohens**

**Chapter 1 **

**Prologue 1 / At Hogwarts**

"Hey Hedwig," Harry said sadly, gently trying to feed his owl a piece of bacon from his plate, before he noticed the small parchment she was holding out for him. '_Can't they leave me in peace for once?_' he groaned inwardly as he opened the letter, and his annoyance grew even more as he realised that it was a note from the Headmaster.

'_Harry, please come to my office after breakfast. A.D._,' the note read. Harry sighed and glanced over to the Head table, giving the Headmaster an unobtrusive nod. Suddenly feeling completely deprived of his appetite, Harry quickly finished his breakfast and headed to the office, which he had destroyed by his temper tantrum a few nights ago.

To his surprise, Dumbledore was in a conversation with Snape. '_Can this day get even worse?_' Harry mused after realising that the Potions Master was there to take part in their talk. He absently accepted the offered lemon drop and turned to the Headmaster as the old wizard began to speak.

"Harry, I wish to speak with you about your summer holidays. A few days ago, Professor Snape alerted me to the fact that you're not safe at your relatives' home anymore. Since Voldemort received your blood last summer, the blood wards are probably not able to protect you from him anymore."

"Oh," Harry blurted out in surprise. '_Snape is right_,' he thought, '_I didn't even think about that. Oh no, don't let Dumbledore get the idea of placing me with Snape. Will the Dursleys be safe though? Oh well, at least they'll be better off without me_.'

"... and they found a family in America, who would be willing to take you in," Dumbledore continued an explanation, of which Harry had missed the beginning completely. "They have two sons, one real son and a foster son, and both are of your age, Harry. However, they are Muggles and live in a Muggle area. Therefore, you may not use your wand, and it would be better if you didn't let them know that you're a wizard. If you, for some reason, can't help telling them, please make sure they keep it to themselves."

Harry cleared his throat. "Professor, um... You said I shouldn't use my wand. Does that mean I'm allowed to do wandless magic?"

"Don't tell us you want to spend the summer in a Muggle household trying to learn wandless magic. You're not supposed to kill anyone," Snape sneered, raising an eyebrow.

Tears welled up in the back of Harry's eyes. '_I know that I'm not supposed to kill anyone, and I surely didn't want to kill Sirius_,' he thought as his recent bout of desperation threatened to take over again.

"I already practised wandless magic at my relatives' home during the last two summers, and it's no problem for me to do easy spells and charms," Harry replied icily, causing the Headmaster to throw him a surprised yet pleased look.

"Wandless magic is no problem as long as you don't harm anyone," Dumbledore said finally. "Be careful, Harry. Now, what I was going to say, Professor Snape will accompany you to the Cohens after the Leaving Feast tomorrow night, and he'll pick you up again on the thirtieth of August."

Harry had to try hard not to roll his eyes at the Headmaster when Snape suddenly turned to him. "I have to go to the apothecary this afternoon, and Professor Dumbledore has suggested I pick up your books for the upcoming school year."

"That would be very kind, sir," Harry said gratefully. "Can you tell them to take the money out of my vault, please?"

"Very well then, come to my office and pick your books up tonight after dinner. Tomorrow, you can ask Dobby to bring your luggage down to my office as soon as you have packed. We're going to leave through the fireplace in my office at ten o'clock tomorrow evening."

"All right," Harry replied, glad that the professor spoke in a neutral tone without any malice in his voice.

"So far so good, Harry, be careful and have nice summer holidays." With that Dumbledore dismissed him.

Harry slowly left the office and headed to the History of Magic classroom for his first morning class. '_Well, the family can't be worse than the Dursleys_,' he tried to calm his stomach that was doing flip-flops at the thought of travelling together with Snape and spending the whole summer with strangers in a Muggle environment in America. '_I wonder how we're going to travel at all and if I'll be able to stay in contact with Ron and Hermione_,' he mused as he heavily let himself fall onto the chair next to his best friend.

**Prologue 2 / ****At the Cohens'**

Sandy watched as Seth and Ryan headed for the pool house, engaged in an animated conversation. He motioned Kirsten to sit on the sofa for a moment. "Kirsten, there is something I'd like to discuss with you," he began hesitantly, not sure how his wife would react to the news.

"What's wrong?" Kirsten queried, observing her husband frown.

"One of my colleagues is urgently looking for a family who could take a sixteen year old boy from Scotland in during the summer holidays, and I thought that it might be good for Ryan and for his relationship to us if we had another foster child staying with him in the pool house. I didn't promise anything yet; I only said I'd discuss the matter with you...." He slowly trailed off.

Kirsten sighed as she tried to comprehend the full extent of her husband's news. "The boy will only be here for the summer holidays?"

"Yes, he is attending a special boarding school in Scotland, and during the winter holidays he can stay at the school. He only needs a place where he can spend the summer. I don't know the details, but I was told he has a good reputation but seems to be in danger in Great Britain."

"I think we should discuss this with Seth and Ryan, before we decide anything, but if they're all right with it, I don't mind taking in another child. Maybe you're right and it'll help to improve our relationship with Ryan," Kirsten finally said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

When they spoke with Seth and Ryan in the evening, they noticed Ryan's face slightly lit up.

"I think it would be nice for Ryan to share the pool house with someone, wouldn't it, Dude?" Seth was the first to speak up.

"Yeah, I think so," Ryan replied calmly.

"Ryan, you don't even have to share your room if you don't want to," Sandy threw in. "Either you or the other boy... I think Harry is his name... can use the guest room if you want. You can still decide when he arrives and you get a first impression of the boy."

"No, I'll be fine sharing my room," Ryan said slowly. '_It'll be nice not to be the only one who doesn't belong to the family_,' he mused. '_I just hope this Harry is nice_.'

He didn't have to wait long, before Harry arrived. When Sandy returned from work the next day, he informed them, "Harry is going to arrive tomorrow night. One of his school teachers is going to accompany him. The man will probably stay overnight, but I'm not sure about that. I don't know how they are going to travel."

"All right, Dude, let's go and prepare the pool house. It'll be fun to be three during the holidays," Seth cheered, pulling Ryan out of the room with him.

_tbc... ? _

_Shall I continue with this story? Is anyone interested?_


	2. International Floo Travel

**Chapter 2 – ****International Floo Travel**

**At Hogwarts**

'_I just hope Snape won't open my trunk and look through my things_,' Harry mused as he packed his belongings in the morning. With Hermione's help he had brewed a few potions he might need during the summer holidays, such as Pepperup potion, a pain relieving potion and a fever reducer, and two phials of each potion were hidden in his trunk.

Harry spent the whole day with his friends, who couldn't believe that Dumbledore was sending him so far away.

"Dumbledore must be nuts, mate," Ron said angrily. "Why can't he let you stay with us over the holidays? Mum would love to have you, and we'd all be happy. We could help Fred and George with the joke shop together."

"Oh, shut up, Ron," Hermione said reasonably, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have his reasons. He probably thinks that Harry will be safer in America."

"But he doesn't know anyone there. Maybe he won't even understand their dialect," Ron replied in annoyance.

"Well, at least the people can't be worse than the Dursleys, and they have two sixteen-year-old children, one real son and one foster son, so maybe I'll be in good company," Harry said quietly. "I have no idea if we'll be able to stay in contact though. I don't think I'm allowed to take Hedwig with me, especially as I'm going to stay with Muggles."

"May I take Hedwig with me then?" Hermione asked carefully. "That way you can write to me through normal Muggle post, and I can send your letters to Ron and his answers back to you." She scribbled something on a small piece of parchment, handing it to Harry. "Here, my address."

"Oh cool, that's a good idea," Harry replied, slightly consoled, fiercely rubbing his forehead against the dull ache behind his temples that had been bothering him after another nightmare-filled night.

"Harry, are you feeling all right?" Hermione queried, throwing him a concerned look.

"Yeah. I just didn't sleep well, and I'm tired. Oh by the way, guess who's going to accompany me to the family?"

"Hmm, Hagrid?" Ron guessed.

Harry merely shook his head.

"Dumbledore, Remus?" Hermione tried.

"No. Snape, and he's going to collect me again at the end of August."

"Oh well, he'll at least be able to keep you safe," Hermione said, ignoring Ron's disgusted expression. "Just behave yourself, and you'll be all right. And don't forget to write soon. Now, the Leaving Feast is going to begin in five minutes; let's go."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

At exactly a quarter to ten, Professor Snape strode behind the Gryffindor table, saying tonelessly, "Follow me, Mr. Potter," before he swept towards the doors with his robes dramatically billowing behind him.

Harry hurriedly pulled his friends in small hugs and said good bye, before he ran behind the Potions Master, glad when he realised the professor was waiting for him in the entrance hall.

"Mr. Potter, we will take the Floo Network. I shall go ahead, and you follow me closely," Snape informed Harry as they reached his office, holding out a small bowl with Floo powder.

"Yes sir. Err... I need my trunk, sir," Harry replied, glancing around in search for his belongings that Dobby was supposed to deliver to the professor's office.

"It's here in my robe pocket," Snape replied and stepped into the fireplace. "Heathrow Floo facilities," he shouted, before he vanished in a whoosh of green flames.

Harry anxiously followed the teacher, glad when he saw the man's face right when he stumbled out of the fireplace. '_Thank God; I managed to arrive at the right place_,' he mused as he scrambled up from the floor, ignoring the teacher's appalled expression.

Snape handed him a small phial, causing Harry to critically eye the lime green potion. "It's a stomach calming draught," Snape sighed, downing one himself. "The next travel might not be too pleasant, so I suggest you take the potion as well."

Harry quickly downed the cool liquid and handed the phial back. "Thank you, sir."

Together they queued behind at least fifty other people, and it took alone fifteen minutes, before Harry was even able to see the fireplace they were going to travel from. After another twenty minutes it was their turn.

"Very well, Mr. Potter; this fireplace is large enough for us to travel together. Just stay with me," Snape instructed him and motioned him into the much larger fireplace. Harry glanced at the inscription right over the fireplace that announced, '_Intercontinental Floo_.'

"Ready?" Snape queried seconds before he shouted, "New York International Floo."

The travel took several minutes, and Harry felt his stomach churn in spite of the potion he had just taken. '_Oh well, without that I'd probably already be puking my guts out_,' he mused, wondering if the travel was ever going to end. By the time they were thrown out at another airport Floo terminal, the dull ache behind his temples had turned into a splitting headache and he felt extremely dizzy.

Snape threw a glance in Harry's pale face. "Are you all right, Potter? We have one short Floo travel left."

"I'm fine," Harry replied in a small voice, gritting his teeth against the pain that seemed to overwhelm him.

Another Floo travel, a Transfiguration of their robes into Muggle clothing and a side-along Apparition later, Harry found himself next to his teacher on a quiet street of what seemed to be a Muggle residential area. Glancing at his wrist watch, Harry saw that it was nearly midnight at home, but it was still light and he had to scrunch his eyes in the blazing sunshine. "Professor, do you know what time it is here?" he asked in confusion.

"We have a time difference of eight hours, so it must be nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. We're bit early, since we were supposed to be at the park over there at five o'clock." Snape pointed to a small park just opposite the road. As far as I know Mr. Cohen is going to collect us there.

'_I just hope he won't let me here all on my own, before the man even shows up_,' Harry mused, feeling very uncertain in the completely unknown country.

He was extremely relieved when the professor suggested, "Over there is a coffee shop. Let's sit down and have something to drink. You look as if you could need a break."

Harry gratefully followed the professor into the coffee shop, glad to be able to escape from the blazing sunshine and to sit down for a while. They ordered two cokes, and Snape took a few sips, before he pulled an envelope out of the pocket of his black jeans, handing it to Harry.

"Mr. Potter, I took the liberty of taking some money out of your vault and exchanging it into American Muggle money. You'll certainly need some money while you're here. Don't worry, I can't freely access your vault, but Professor Dumbledore arranged the matter with the goblins," he added as an afterthought.

"Oh, thank you so much, Professor. I didn't even think about that," Harry replied gratefully, sighing in relief at the two professors' consideration.

During the following hour, the two wizards more or less quietly sipped their cokes, curiously taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Harry's feelings were a mixture of exhaustion and excitement, and the professor's expression was blank.

'_I hope they won't find out that I'm a freak, who can do magic and just killed his godfather_,' Harry thought as his eyes began to droop.

"Wake up, Mr. Potter. We need to head over to the park," Snape's voice suddenly penetrated Harry's ears, causing him to look up, terrified.

"Did I fall asleep? I'm sorry, Professor, I didn't mean to."

"That's all right. Now, listen, Potter. In the envelope with the money I gave you is a blank parchment. The equivalent is in my office. It enables us to communicate. You will write a short sentence on your paper once a day to let me know that you're all right. If you have any questions or problems, you may write more of course, and I'll answer as soon as possible. Do you understand me? Write a note once a day."

"All right, sir," Harry promised, while his sleep-stricken foggy mind still tried to understand what he had just conceded.

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**At the Cohens'**

Seth and Ryan returned from their last day of school. "Yay, finally summer holidays," Seth shouted enthusiastically. "And tonight Harry is going to arrive. Let's go and see if Mum managed to arrange for the second bed in your room."

Ryan quietly followed his overexcited brother over to the pool house. Yes, he was glad that the summer holidays were going to begin, and he looked forward to the other boy who was going to arrive tonight. However, he couldn't share his brother's excitement. Ever since he had woken up that day, he had been feeling slightly under the weather, and during the afternoon classes, his throat had become sore and his head hurt terribly. '_Oh no_,' he groaned inwardly. '_It's bad enough to get sick at the Cohens'; I don't want to be a burden for Kirsten. Dawn always got so angry when I was ill, in spite of being my mother. Kirsten would be much more annoyed if she knew, let alone on the first day of the holidays and when my new roommate is going to arrive_. _I just hope I'll be able to hide it from everyone._'

Seth's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Mum did that really well, don't you think so? She kind of divided the room in two parts, so if you really wanted to have two separate rooms, you could just turn the wardrobes around."

Ryan glanced around the room, nodding in amazement. "That's brilliant, although I don't think we're going to divide the room. It's much nicer as it is like this."

"Well, here's nothing left for us to do, Dude. Care for a round of Playstation?"

"Hmmm, maybe I'll remain here and stretch out on my bed for a while," Ryan replied thoughtfully. "I'm a bit tired, because I didn't sleep so well last night."

"So excited about our visitor?" Seth laughed.

"Exactly," Ryan replied, groaning inwardly. '_Only you can get so excited because of a visitor_,' he mused as he waited for his brother to leave. Ryan was just about to drift off to sleep, when Kirsten's voice penetrated his ears.

"Is anyone going to come with me to meet Harry?"

_

* * *

tbc..._

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	3. Unterstanding

**Chapter ****3 – Understanding**

Ryan dragged himself behind Kirsten and Seth to the small park a few blocks away, where they were supposed to meet Harry. '_Maybe I should have stayed at home and tried to find some Tylenol_,' he thought, feeling worse by the hour. Suddenly, Kirsten's voice pulled him out of his reverie, and when he looked up, he saw an extremely tall man and a boy, who was a bit smaller than Seth and himself, standing in front of them. A huge trunk was waiting next to the boy. '_I thought Sandy said the boy was our age, but he only seems like thirteen_,' Ryan mused, feeling slightly disappointed. '_He looks nice though with his emerald green eyes_.'

"You must be Harry," Kirsten said friendly, shaking Harry's hand, before she greeted the teacher and introduced herself. "I am Kirsten Cohen, and these are my sons Ryan and Seth."

"Hello," Harry replied, throwing the two boys a shy smile.

"Good evening," the professor said firmly and picked up Harry's trunk, clearly giving a sign that he didn't want to spend any more time at the park.

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"Seth and Ryan, why don't you take Harry to the pool house and get him settled, while I exchange a few words with his teacher and get dinner ready?" Kirsten suggested in a friendly but firm voice.

Knowing that it was more an order than a suggestion, Ryan took Harry's trunk from the professor, ignoring Harry's protests, and the three boys took off.

"Professor," Kirsten addressed Snape, "would you like to spend the night in the guest room before you return? That must have been an awfully far travel."

"No, thank you. I merely have a letter from the Headmaster to hand over, and then I'll be on my way," Snape replied curtly.

"Very well, if you're sure," Kirsten accepted the decision. "Is there anything I should know about Harry?"

"If you ask me, I feel inclined to complain that he is a reckless, pampered brat," Snape sneered, "so you better read the Headmaster's letter. The old man is very fond of the boy."

Ignoring Kirsten's disbelieving look, he continued, "I'll be back on the thirtieth of August to fetch the boy. If it is absolutely necessary to contact me before that, Potter knows how to inform me." With that Snape turned around the corner and, making sure no one could see him, apparated away.

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"I hope you don't mind sharing the room with me," Ryan said in a small voice, noticing that it hurt to speak.

"Of course not," Harry replied, yawning. "At school, I share a dormitory with four other boys. I'm sorry for yawning, but for me it's already half past one in the morning, and I'm a bit tired."

"Oh well, this is your bed; feel free to lie down and sleep at anytime. We'll wake you up in time for dinner," Seth offered, pointing to the new bed.

'_Maybe I should sleep for a while in order to survive dinner_,' Harry mused, '_but what if I have a nightmare? I need to put a Silencing spell around myself, but how can I do that when they're watching me like hawks? I'd also like to take a sip of a pain relieving potion for this horrible headache._'

Harry decided not to take the risk of having a nightmare in front of the others and proceeded to unpack his trunk. Snape had told him he had charmed all of his school books to look like Muggle school books to Muggles.

"Maybe we should give him some space and play Playstation in my room," Seth suggested to Ryan, realising that Harry might feel uncomfortable to sleep while they were watching him.

"I think I'm going to take a short nap, too," Ryan said hesitantly. "I didn't sleep too well last night."

"All right then, I'll come and wake both of you up in time for dinner," Seth promised and sighed as he left the room, shaking his head in disbelief, unable to understand why people would want to sleep their first evening of the summer holidays away.

Ryan let himself sink onto his bed, unable to prevent himself from sighing in relief as his achy head came to lie down on the pillow. While Harry finished his unpacking, he tried to get some sleep; however, the urge to cough and the heat that crept through his body as he vehemently tried to suppress the coughs, kept him awake, making him try to find a cool spot on his pillow in vain.

Harry looked up as a few harsh coughs shook Ryan's body, and he noticed a violent shiver run through his roommate's tall form. "Are you feeling all right?" he asked softly as he approached the other bed, taking in the beads of sweat forming on the boy's forehead.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine; it's just a little cold," Ryan croaked, slightly opening his achy eyes to look at Harry and assess if he'd be able to keep his predicament to himself. "Please don't tell anyone," he whispered, just to be sure.

Feeling very familiar with the situation, Harry sat on the edge of Ryan's bed and carefully laid his hand on the other boy's forehead. "You're burning up, Ryan. Are you sure you don't want me to fetch the Cohens?"

"Don't," Ryan said firmly, reaching for Harry's wrist to keep him from leaving and calling anyone. "I don't want to be a burden to Kirsten."

"I understand only too well," Harry replied softly, "I always had to hide it from my relatives when I was feeling under the weather. Look, I brought a cold potion, which we brewed at school. It only works if it's a cold though, but if you're sure, I can give it to you. It'll make you feel better in the blink of an eye."

"Really?" Ryan queried, hopefully looking at Harry from half-open glassy eyes.

"Yep," Harry said and stood to retrieve a phial of Pepperup potion, which he handed the boy. "Don't dwell on the taste; just gulp it down quickly," he advised him, taking back the empty phial an instant later.

"Uh, that was gross," Ryan said, shaking his head in surprise as steam began to come out of his ears, "but I feel much better."

"That's good," Harry said, smiling as his new friend seemingly relaxed and drifted off to sleep. He returned to his own side of the room, took a sip of the pain relieving potion and waved his hand around his bed to cast a silencing charm, before he lay down and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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"Harry is already asleep," Ryan said quietly as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Oh, the poor child; he's clearly suffering from the jetlag," Kirsten replied softly. "On the other hand, this gives me the opportunity to speak with you behind his back. The teacher, who accompanied him, Professor Snape, gave me a letter from his Headmaster. In the letter, it says that Harry's godfather, to whom he had been very close, has been attacked and died just a week ago and that Harry is suffering from violent nightmares because of this and because of a madman wanting to kill him as well. The teacher didn't explain more, only that none of it was Harry's fault, although he might want to feel responsible."

Kirsten glanced at her sons, who seemed clearly shocked at the revelations, and continued, "Ryan, I understand if you don't want to share the room with Harry, since your sleep might be disturbed. Would you like to move into the guest room, or shall I ask Harry to move?"

"Of course not," Ryan replied quietly, noticing that it still hurt to speak in spite of the medicine Harry had given him earlier. "If he has bad nightmares, he needs someone to comfort him, and since I am a light sleeper, I'll probably hear him so I can help."

"Oh Ryan, that's so sweet of you," Kirsten said in relief, knowing that Seth would never offer to comfort someone willingly.

"Thank you, Ryan, we really appreciate your offer to help Harry," Sandy threw in, "however, please remember to call Kirsten or me at any time, if you or Harry need us. We'll always be here for you."

"Thank you," Ryan replied gratefully, resolving not to call the Cohens if they could somehow manage on their own. '_I'm glad to have Harry here; he seems to understand me really well_,' he mused, feeling very happy in spite of the shivers that slowly returned to his body as the effects of the potion began to wear off.

"Ryan, are you feeling all right?" Kirsten asked suddenly, giving him a sharp look. "You're very pale tonight."

"I'm just a bit tired," Ryan replied in a small voice. "May I be excused?"

"Of course, Ryan, sleep well, and remember to call us if you or Harry need help," Kirsten said gently.

When Ryan slowly dragged himself back to the pool house, his ears felt strangely clogged and a white haze surrounded his body. Glad to be able to lie down, he opened the door and stumbled into their room, only to see that Harry was thrashing around wildly, completely entangled in his bed covers.

_

* * *

tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction. Please inform me if there are great errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	4. Bonding

**Chapter ****4 – Bonding**

Ryan dragged himself over to Harry's bed, holding on to the wall to steady himself against the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him. He let himself sink onto the edge of Harry's bed and gently shook the other boy's shoulder to wake him up.

"Harry, wake up, you're having a nightmare," he croaked, causing Harry to flinch back badly at the touch to his shoulder.

"I'm sorry; it's all right now; thanks for waking me up," Harry mumbled sleepily, completely forgetting about the silencing spell.

"I'm sorry; my ears are completely clogged up, and I can't hear you," Ryan said hoarsely. "If you'd like to tell me about your nightmare, I'll try to listen though."

"No, thank you, Ryan, go to bed and sleep. I hope you'll feel better tomorrow," Harry murmured, already drifting back to sleep.

Ryan gently tucked Harry in and dragged himself to his own bed, glad to finally be able to lie down. However, a few hours later, he woke up by his own coughing, feeling utterly miserable. Suddenly sensing something ice-cold on his forehead, he forced his achy eyes open, noticing that the white mist around him had intensified.

"Ryan, are you feeling worse?" a soft voice, which he recognised as Harry's, penetrated his foggy mind.

"Yeah," he whispered, not trusting his throat that felt as if on fire to allow him let any normally spoken words out.

"I can give you another Pepperup potion and something for the fever," Harry said thoughtfully; "however, we should check your temperature first to see if it gets better or worse. Do you have a thermometer?"

"Yeah, bathroom," Ryan whispered, rolling onto his stomach and closing his eyes as he gripped his pillow with both arms.

Harry quickly retrieved the thermometer and switched in on, noticing terrified that the numbers displayed were in Fahrenheit not in Celsius. "Please open up and let me take your temperature," he said softly, observing the numbers on the digital display increase as they waited for the reading to finish. Finally, the device beeped and Harry pulled it out, realising that Ryan had gone back to sleep. '_102.8, I wonder how much that is in Celsius_,' he mused as he switched the device off and returned it to the bathroom, not wanting to wake Ryan. '_I'll give him the potions when he wakes up again_,' he decided and went back to bed.

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Under the influence of Harry's potions, which he made him drink as soon as he woke up, Ryan felt well enough to drag himself over to the house for breakfast. Harry hesitantly followed him, feeling very conscious in Dudley's hand-me-downs. He only had one good pair of jeans that his godfather had bought for him a few months ago, but knowing that it was in dire need of a washing, he was now wearing his cousin's much too large clothes.

"Harry, whose clothes are you wearing today?" Seth laughed as Ryan and Harry entered the room.

"These are my cousin's," Harry replied in a small voice and averted his eyes to the floor, feeling very glad when Ryan pulled him with him to the table and motioned him to sit down next to him.

"Seth, please behave yourself," Sandy said sternly, while Kirsten threw Harry a concerned look.

"Don't you have any own clothes, sweetie?" she asked gently, causing Harry to blush deeply.

"I have my school clothes of course, but I'm not allowed to wear them during the summer holidays. I'm sorry for not dressing in a more proper way."

"Oh Harry, no one is scolding you because of that. You may, of course, dress as you like," Kirsten said softly. "However, I think I'm going to take you shopping today. Seth, Ryan, I'd like you to join us."

"Oh, Mum, I'm sorry, but I have a date with Summer this morning," Seth replied quickly, while Ryan merely shrugged and nodded.

"I'm sorry, but perhaps would it be possible to go alone, I mean, just the two of us?" Harry suggested in a small voice, knowing that Ryan wasn't feeling well enough to be out of bed, let alone go shopping.

"Of course we can do that, if you feel embarrassed," Kirsten reassured him, throwing Ryan a glance. "Would you mind staying at home alone for a few hours, sweetie?"

"No," Ryan replied, shaking his head, before he unobtrusively shot Harry a grateful look.

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During the next few hours, Kirsten not only insisted on buying a whole wardrobe full of clothes for Harry but also made sure to pay for everything in spite of Harry's protests. Harry felt extremely embarrassed as she even bought underwear and pyjamas for him. When she finally decided that it was enough, she ushered him into a coffee shop for a short break.

"Harry, did you live with your relatives so far?" Kirsten asked softly, noticing how uncomfortable Harry seemed to feel. Seeing him nod, she asked, "Did your aunt never take you shopping?"

Somehow sensing that she seemed to be really concerned, Harry explained a bit about his life with the Dursleys, causing Kirsten to become very upset. "Harry, I want you to know that, in contrary to your relatives, we're very happy to have you at our home. I know that it'll take time for you to get used to belonging to our family. Even Ryan seems not to have completely adapted yet, but I want you to know that for Sandy and me you're our third son, even if we don't know much about you yet. Feel free to come to us whenever you need us. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Harry replied, forcing back the tears that threatened to penetrate his eyes at Kirsten's kind words. "Thank you very much. I really appreciate it."

"Harry, there is one more thing I wanted to speak with you about," Kirsten continued in a slightly more hesitant tone. "I received a letter from Professor Dumbledore, in which he informed us about the death of your godfather. Harry, if you ever want to speak about it, Sandy and I will always be there for you."

"Thank you," Harry replied politely, feeling very annoyed at the Headmaster's fussing.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

When they returned to the Cohens' house, Kirsten quickly excused herself. "Harry, I'm sorry, but I have to work for a few hours. I trust you and Ryan can keep yourselves occupied during the afternoon?"

"Yes, of course," Harry replied, feeling slightly relieved at the thought of spending some time alone with the other boy, who was in a similar situation as himself. He slowly returned to the pool house, carrying all the shopping bags to Ryan's and his room.

Ryan was spread on his bed, entangled in a heap of blankets. His cheeks looked flushed, and Harry noticed that he was shivering in spite of the warmth in the room. He quickly put down his bags and headed to the bathroom to retrieve a wet towel and the thermometer, before he turned to their room and sat on the edge of Ryan's bed.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked softly, gently bathing the boy's flushed face with the wet towel.

"Feels good," Ryan mumbled, unconsciously leaning into the cold touch. He groaned in annoyance as Harry switched on the thermometer but grudgingly closed his lips around the cold glass.

"103.0," Harry read from the display. "Ryan, I don't know if that's high or low. What is the normal body temperature in Fahrenheit?"

"About 100 I think; so it's just a bit elevated," Ryan replied, uncertain why he was lying to Harry, who so far had proved to be a good friend since he arrived twenty-four hours ago. "Can you give me more medicine?"

"Of course, but I only have one phial of the fever reducing potion left," Harry said worriedly. '_At least his fever seems to be constant and isn't going up much, and if 100 is the equivalent to thirty-six, 103 should be between thirty-seven and thirty-eight, so it's not a big deal_,' he thought in relief, ignoring the faint voice at the back of his head that reminded him, '_but he feels much warmer than that_.'

"Then I'll go to the house and get some Tylenol," Ryan whispered. "Let's save your phial for later. If you don't mind, I'll take it before dinner. It seems to help more than Tylenol." He slowly sat up and waited until a bout of dizziness passed, before he gratefully accepted Harry's arm and allowed his new friend to pull him into a standing position.

"Do you think you can walk so far?" Harry asked, noticing that Ryan heavily leaned onto his arm.

"Yeah, of course," Ryan whispered and slowly led Harry to the medicine cabinet.

The two boys had nearly reached their aim when they heard a key being stuck in the front door, causing Ryan's already white face to pale even more.

_

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tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction. Please inform me if there are great errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	5. Lazy Boys

**Chapter ****5 – Lazy Boys**

"Here, sit down quickly," Harry whispered calmly as he hurriedly led Ryan to the kitchen table. "I'll get something to drink." He fetched two glasses of water, and the two boys remained seated at the table, just as if they had only come to the house to have a drink.

Suddenly, Seth entered the room. "Ah, here you are. How was shopping with The Kirsten?" he queried, chuckling.

"It was quite embarrassing," Harry admitted, blushing slightly. "Your mother is very nice though; I like her a lot."

"I'm glad you say so," Seth acknowledged. "Ryan is still not completely used to her, right, Dude?"

"It's very hot here though," Harry quickly tried to change the topic, not wanting his new friend to feel more uncomfortable than he surely felt anyway because of being sick. "The thermometer over there says it's ninety-five degrees, but do you by chance know how to convert temperatures in Celsius temperatures?"

"Oh Harry, I have no idea, but we can check it out on the internet if you want," Seth offered gently, just when his mobile phone rang and he headed outside. "Hello Summer," they heard just before Seth stomped up the stairs to his room.

"Now," Ryan whispered, pointing to the medicine cabinet, causing Harry to hurry to the cabinet and look in confusion at the bottles with pills inside.

"What was the name?" he whispered urgently.

"Tylenol," Ryan replied, sighing. "Two please."

Harry finally found a bottle and took four pills out, letting two of them slide into the pocket of his jeans, before he returned to the table and handed the other two to Ryan, who washed them down with a glass of water. Harry quickly turned around and unobtrusively cleaned the two glasses they had used with a wave of his hand, before he offered Ryan his arm and steadied the boy as they returned to their room.

Just when Harry helped Ryan back into bed, Seth stuck his head through the door. "I'm sorry, Harry, did you want to look something up on the internet?"

'_Oh right_,' Harry thought and followed the other boy over to his room, knowing that Ryan was about to drift off to sleep anyway. "I wanted to check out how to convert temperatures into Celsius," he said softly, observing in amazement as Seth wildly attacked a keyboard and a device that he called 'mouse' on his desk.

Finally, Seth found a page. "Which temperature?"

"Err... 39?"

"35 degrees Celsius."

"Ah all right, 103 then."

"39.4 degrees Celsius," Seth informed him, causing Harry to gasp. "Why are you asking, Harry? What's wrong?"

'_I have to tell him. That's a fairly high fever, and..._' Suddenly noticing that Seth was watching him expectantly, Harry hesitantly admitted, "Ryan is ill with a high fever. 103 was his temperature when I checked it a while ago. I just thought it wasn't so high."

Seth let out a long sigh. "Ryan still feels as if he was a burden to Mum. That's probably the reason why he's hiding that he is ill. Oh well, it's good he has you, because I'm not good at looking after people. I can only promise that I won't tell and that I'll help you get medicine for him." With that the two boys returned to the pool house and spent the rest of the day in Ryan's and Harry's room.

Harry felt very reassured by Seth's reaction. The three boys spent the next two days in their room, talking, until Harry said hesitantly, "I brought a game with me." He opened his trunk, revealing a version of wizard's chess that he had charmed with Hermione's help on the last day before the holidays after Dumbledore had told him he was going to spend the holidays with two other boys. The game was like normal wizard's chess, only that three people could play together instead of two.

Harry explained to Ryan and Seth how to play chess, and the two boys were fascinated that they didn't have to touch the figures in order to move them.

"That's like magic," Ryan croaked.

"It is, and it's incredible; I've never heard of such a game before," Seth smirked, taking Ryan's queen away.

"Can you keep a secret?" Harry asked hesitantly and, seeing his two new friends nod, he told them about magic.

"Is that true?" Ryan asked, incredulously. "Are you really a wizard?"

"This sounds very unbelievable. Can you do something funny to prove that it's true?" Seth queried.

"Hmmm, what do you want me to do? It has to be something easy, because I'm not allowed to use my wand, which makes it much easier to do magic." '_Accio book_,' he thought, and one of the books that were placed on his night table hovered over to where Harry was sitting at the side of Ryan's bed.

"Wow," Seth said in fascination.

"Well, my relatives always called me a freak because of it," Harry admitted in a small voice. "Please promise that you don't tell anyone; otherwise I'll be in a lot of trouble."

"I promise," Ryan and Seth replied simultaneously, causing Harry to throw Ryan a worried look.

"You're not getting better at all, are you?" he asked as he leaned over to feel the boy's forehead.

"No, but at least it's not worsening."

'_I'm not so sure_,' Harry thought, observing that Ryan's face looked a little yellowish. 'Well, probably it's only my impression,' he mused as Seth's mobile phone rang.

"Mum," they heard Seth say. "Oh, yeah, that's all right. We'll get something. Don't worry; everything is all right here. Have fun." He finished the conversation and turned back to Ryan and Harry. "Mum and Dad are invited to a party tonight, so they'll be late. Mum told me to go and get pizza or something."

"No thank you," Ryan mumbled tiredly, stretching out on his bed.

"I'm not really hungry either," Harry said softly. "Ryan, don't go to sleep yet. Let me check on you and give you some medicine first."

"You sure you don't want anything?" Seth asked. "You're not getting sick too, are you?"

"No," Harry replied, laughing. "It's just very warm here, and I'm not used to that yet."

"Ah okay, I'll go out for a while then. Maybe I'll meet with Summer," Seth said, dialling a number on his mobile phone as he left the room.

By the time Harry had fetched the Tylenol and the thermometer, Ryan was fast asleep, and Harry decided to let him rest, placing the items on the night table. He sat on his own bed and quickly wrote on Snape's parchment, "_Everything is all right_." Pondering what he should do now, he placed the parchment and his quill back on the night table and was just about to reach for a book when a sentence appeared under his own.

"_Have you already begun with your summer assignments?_" it said.

'_Oh no_,' Harry groaned in annoyance. '_What has Snape to do with my summer homework?_'

"_I was just going to begin with my Potions homework_," Harry wrote back, before he stood up and fetched his Potions book and homework.

"_Very well. Write 'attachment' on this parchment and attach your assignments to this parchment when you're finished. Not only your Potions homework, but all of your assignments, so I can check and correct them if necessary. I expect you to finish your homework as fast as possible, so I can send you more assignments. You will be very busy this summer_."

Harry looked at the parchment in disbelief. '_What the f...?_'

_

* * *

tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction. Please inform me if there are great errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	6. Sick Boys

**Chapter ****6 – Sick Boys**

_

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This fast update is for: Yamiyugi23, wandamarie and sjrodgers108! Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

* * *

Harry spent the next few hours feverishly working on his Potions assignment. '_Thank God I have everything I need for my homework with me this year, not like all the other years when Uncle Vernon locked my trunk away_,' he mused as he tried to concentrate on his essay. '_It's somehow unsettling that Snape wants to see everything. I wonder if it's his idea or if Dumbledore set him up to it_.'

By the time he finished his essay it was four o'clock in the morning, and Harry quickly set his parchment and quill aside, deciding to read through his writing in the morning before sending it to the professor. '_I should have gone to bed earlier; my head hurts_,' he mused as he lay down and drifted off to sleep in the blink of an eye.

Harry's mind slowly turned back to awareness to someone shaking his shoulder. It was Seth. "Hey lazybones, it's time to get up and discuss what we're going to do. Dad offered to take the day off and take us to the beach today. We either have to tell him that Ryan is sick, or we have to play along."

"How is he?" Harry asked sleepily, noticing that he could hardly open his eyes.

"Are you sick, too?" Seth queried, throwing him a concerned look.

"No, I worked on my homework until four this morning," Harry replied sleepily and shortly explained about his communication with the teacher.

"Oh my, I don't envy you," Seth said. "Well, if you manage to get up, you can check on Ryan. I think he'll be more comfortable if you do it. I already fetched the thermometer and some medicine.

"Okay," Harry agreed and scrambled out of his bed. "Hey Ryan, how're you feeling?" he asked in a soft voice, realising that the boy looked worse than on the previous day. His cheeks were deeply flushed, and his hair was sticking strangely to his sweaty forehead. '_I'm afraid we need to tell the Cohens; he's getting worse_,' he mused as he coaxed the thermometer under the other boy's tongue after Ryan had muttered a small, "So-so."

The device still showed a 103, causing Harry to sigh. '_That's still thirty-nine degrees; we have to tell someone. Maybe he needs other medicine_.' "Seth, he can't go to the beach with such a fever. We should at least tell your father that he's sick."

"No, let's go to the beach; maybe the cold water will cool me down," Ryan croaked, throwing his two friends a pleading look.

Noticing that Ryan kept scratching his left arm, Harry threw him a sharp look and noticed a faint rash covering his forearm. "You're getting a rash," he pointed out.

"I know; it began last night," Ryan admitted, "but I'll be fine."

Harry shook his head in determination and gave Seth a pointed look. "Well, I'm going to tell my parents," Seth announced and left the room, before Ryan could object.

"Ryan, it's all right. It's not your fault that you're ill, and they won't think you're a burden, especially as I'm still here, and I'm still going to take care of you, even if they know. Calm down; everything will be all right," Harry said softly, gently bathing Ryan's face with the towel Seth had lain on the boy's forehead.

Before Ryan could reply, Kirsten entered the room, throwing Ryan a worried look. Harry quickly vacated the spot on the edge of Ryan's bed, so Kirsten could take his place. Seeing that Ryan's feverishly red face became even more colourful in embarrassment, Harry quickly explained everything to Kirsten, who let out a deep sigh as he finished.

"Harry, thank you so much for taking care of Ryan. I really appreciate it; however, both of you should know that you have to tell me when you're ill," Kirsten said softly. "I'm your mother now, Ryan, and I'm also your mother for the time being, Harry, and it's only normal that a mother cares for her sick child. Well, considering how long you've already been ill without any improvement, I'm going to take you to Seth's doctor," Kirsten announced and stood up from the bed, pulling her mobile phone out of her skirt pocket as she took a few steps away.

The three boys listened as she talked to the doctor's assistant, waited for a moment and finally replied, "I'm going to bring him in immediately then. Thank you, bye." She pulled fresh boxers, sweat pants and a T-shirt out of a drawer, placing the items on Ryan's bed. "Please get dressed, sweetie; we're going to see the doctor right away." In order not to embarrass the boy even more, she quickly left the room, pulling out her mobile phone again in order to phone her colleague and excuse herself from work for the rest of the week.

"Don't worry, Dude, the doctor is really nice," Seth said soothingly, before he and Harry sat on Harry's bed to give Ryan some space.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

While Kirsten took Ryan to the doctor, Harry and Seth were waiting in the pool house, trying not to show their concern for the sick boy to each other. Harry busied himself correcting his Potions homework, and Seth was playing video games next to Harry.

Finally, Ryan entered the room, gently steadied by Kirsten. She helped him lie down and tucked him in, before she carefully adjusted the wet towel that Harry quickly handed her to Ryan's forehead.

"Thank you, Harry," she said softly, before she explained, "Ryan has the measles. Although all children are vaccinated when they're small, his mother must have missed to take him to the doctor to get his shots. Fortunately, Seth got his immunisation, but what about you, Harry?"

'_The Dursleys didn't take me to the doctor even once_,' Harry mused, sighing. Seeing that Kirsten gave him a concerned look, he shrugged, "I guess I got the vaccination, but I'm not sure," he lied in order not to make the kind lady worry.

"All right then," Kirsten said, sighing in obvious relief. "However, if you feel sick, please tell me immediately."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the following week, Ryan remained very ill with a high fever and a very itchy skin. Harry and Seth remained with him in the room all the time, and whenever Ryan felt well enough, which normally was shortly after taking his medicine, they played wizard's chess. When the sick boy was too unwell to play or was asleep, Harry worked on his homework, while Seth occupied himself otherwise or went out to see Summer.

Harry had already received his Potions homework back with more corrections three times and his Transfiguration essay once. '_Well, I'm going to do Charms today_,' he mused, feeling very annoyed to have to write everything all over again and again. '_I should be glad that someone takes the time to look over my things and correct them. No one did that ever before_,' a small voice at the back of his head told him, causing Harry to sigh. '_That's indeed true; if only my head didn't hurt so much_,' he thought, skimming his Charms book for anything that might help with his essay.

Unfortunately, by the time he had to check on Ryan again, he realised that not only his head but also his throat had become sore. '_Oh no, please don't let me get sick now_,' he thought as he gently woke Ryan up to take his temperature.

"Harry, are you feeling all right? Your eyes look a bit glassy," the boy observed as Harry gently slid the thermometer into its correct position and worriedly watched the numbers on the digital display increase.

"Really?" Harry asked, shocked that his slight indisposition seemed to be so obvious. "My head and throat are a little sore, but other than that I'm fine," he replied, deciding not to lie to his friend. "Don't tell anyone though."

Ryan rolled his eyes, just when Kirsten entered the room. "How is our patient today?" she asked Harry, who hurried to take the beeping thermometer out.

"102.8," he read, uncertain if that was still over thirty-nine degrees.

"Still very high," Kirsten sighed and handed Ryan two small pills and a glass of water, before she announced she was going to bring some soup for him in a few minutes.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the next two days, Harry's condition worsened steadily, and although he managed efficiently to hide from the Cohens how bad he felt, he realised that he was really sick and had probably caught the measles from Ryan. '_I hope I won't get a rash, but if I get it, I'll have to tell them_,' he mused as he feverishly tried to concentrate on the third version of his Transfiguration homework. However, he didn't have to tell his temporary guardians anything.

Absolutely exhausted due to the fight against his illness and his struggles to concentrate on his homework, Harry forgot to place a Silencing charm around his bed, and when Kirsten came to check on Ryan during the night, she heard Harry, who was captured in fever induced nightmares.

"Really, I'm fine, and I can look after Ryan, no problem. My relatives took me to the doctor to get my shots. They were very caring and nice people, except for my uncle when he beat me, starved me and locked me into my cupboard, especially when I was sick. Everything is all right now," he tried to assure someone, right before his voice changed into a more timid tone when he hoarsely continued to ramble, "I'm sorry, Professor, but I can't write five hundred inches on one day, especially as I'm having a temperature of eight hundred degrees, and it's so hot here, err, no cold, and I promise I'll do my Potions homework for the four hundred thirty-fifth time tomorrow. Can you perhaps use a green quill for the corrections, sir? The red hurts my eyes and it looks so much like Voldemort's eyes."

_

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tbc..._

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	7. Homework

**Chapter ****7 – Homework**

"Harry, what's wrong? Wake up, sweetie," Kirsten said softly and carefully laid a hand on his shoulder.

Even if Harry flinched back instantly, the short time was enough for her to feel the warmth he radiated, and she sat on the edge of his bed, looking at him in concern.

"Harry, you're ill," she whispered. "May I touch you and feel your forehead?"

Harry lazily opened his eyes, noticing that his eyelids felt very heavy. "I don't feel good," he admitted in a small voice, unconsciously realising that he wasn't able to hide it from Kirsten anymore.

"I'll be back in a minute," Kirsten said softly and hurried back to the house to fetch the thermometer from there, so she wouldn't have to clean Ryan's each time she took his temperature. "Here, sweetie, let me check if you have a fever," she coaxed him to close his lips around the glassy stick and worriedly bathed his flushed face with the cool cloth she had grabbed on the way. "104.2," she read, horrified. "Harry, I'm going to give you two of Ryan's pills for the moment, and in the morning, I'll make a doctor's appointment for you."

"No," Harry replied in a terrified voice, "please don't take me to the doctor. I've never been to a doctor except for the nurse at school."

"Oh, my poor child," Kirsten said softly as she gently helped Harry sit up just enough to wash the two pills down with a glass of water. "I'll see what I can do to get the medicine without a prescription. Otherwise, we have to go to the doctor. Now try to sleep a bit more. I'll look in on you again later on."

"Okay, thank you," Harry mumbled tiredly, already drifting back to sleep.

'_He is such a sweet child_,' Kirsten thought as she turned to Ryan to check on him.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Harry was lucky and Kirsten didn't need a prescription to obtain another package of the medication. "However, if your fever goes up any more, I am going to take you to the doctor," she said resolutely as she proceeded to take Harry's and Ryan's temperature at the same time. "I'm so sorry for you, Ryan and Harry. I know it must be annoying to spend your summer holidays in bed feeling so bad, but I promise that we'll go to the seaside all together as soon as you're fully recovered. Now, I'm going to make you some soup, or do you think you can eat anything else?"

Ryan shook his head, and Harry closed his eyes in annoyance, feeling nauseous at the thought of any kind of food. After an infinite time, the thermometers beeped and Kirsten hurried to pluck them from their lips, frowning at the results. "Ryan, your fever has come down a degree, although it's still a little high; do you feel any better yet?"

"A bit better, although it still itches a lot," Ryan croaked, quickly taking the medicine Kirsten held out for him.

"Well, the doctor said it might take up to three weeks until you'll be completely well again," Kirsten said softly. "If there is anything else I can do for you, tell me, Ryan. I've taken off from work until the end of July, and I'm going to stay home longer if you're not well by then."

"We will," Ryan replied gratefully, throwing his foster mother a weak smile.

"Oh Harry, you're beginning to develop your rash," Kirsten said in an equally soft voice as she stepped over to Harry's bed to make him take his medicine.

"Yeah," he replied tiredly, feeling absolutely miserable. It took little more than half an hour before he felt the effects of the medicine. '_Potions are amazing. They work so much faster_,' he mused as he slowly brought himself into a sitting position. He waited for a moment until a bout of dizziness passed, before he reached for his parchment and quill.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Ryan asked hoarsely, throwing him an incredulous look.

"I'm sorry. Did I disturb you?" Harry asked, terrified.

"Of course not," Ryan replied, rolling his eyes, "but you'll aggravate your condition if you study with the fever you're running.

Harry sighed. "Professor Snape is such a git; having a fever won't be an excuse for not doing my assignments. He expects me to finish one assignment a day."

"Do you have so much homework?"

"No, but he corrects them, and then I'll have to do them all over again. Today, I have to write my Transfiguration essay for the third time. Here, this is what he sent me back last time." He held a parchment up for Ryan to see, which was completely covered with Snape's fine hand writing in red ink.

"Oh my," Ryan said compassionately. "How do you communicate with your teacher and send him parchments at all?" he suddenly remembered to ask.

Harry reached out for the charmed parchment on his night table and explained to his friend how it worked. Ryan slowly stood up and sat on the edge of Harry's bed, admiring the writing on the parchment. "Magic is just fantastic," he breathed in amazement. "Oh well, I'm sorry, I shouldn't disturb you. Go ahead, and we can talk again when you want to take a break."

"Thank you, Ryan," Harry replied, feeling very grateful that the other boy was so understanding. When Ryan stood up, he turned back to his Transfiguration homework, only to put it away hurriedly as he heard a knock at the door.

It was Seth. "Hey brothers, are you feeling well enough to play chess?" he asked, looking from Ryan to Harry. "Oh no, you look like death warmed up," he corrected himself. "Shouldn't you lie down and sleep?"

"I'm all right," Harry replied, letting out a few harsh coughs. "If you could move the table and the chairs here, so we can play here? I feel a bit too dizzy to get up," he added in a small voice.

"Of course," Seth said, motioning Ryan to sit on the edge of Harry's bed, before he sat on a chair on the other side of the small table he had moved next to the bed.

The three boys played two games, which both Seth won. "The two of you are clearly not your usual selves," he said, chuckling as he ordered the chess pieces back into their box, just when Kirsten entered the room and looked in disbelief at the scene in front of her.

"Ryan, please go back to bed instantly, and Harry, you should lie down and rest," she said firmly, before she asked, "What have you been playing?"

"Wizard's chess," Seth replied, chuckling at his mother's surprised expression. "Harry brought it with him."

"It's charmed so we can play it with three persons, and you can order the pieces to move to wherever you want them," Harry mumbled as he lay back in exhaustion, causing Kirsten to throw him a worried look. "Are you delirious again?" she mumbled and stepped over to feel his forehead. "You're burning up." She let out a long sigh. "Harry, you will not sit up and play anymore as long as your fever is so high. Do you understand me?"

"Hmm," Harry mumbled, pretending to be drifting off to sleep. '_I can't promise that, because I have to do my homework_,' he mused, feeling bad to lie to his nice guardian. _'She is so different from the Dursleys, and she really seems to care about each of us_,' he thought as he listened to Kirsten, Ryan and Seth talk for a while.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the following days, Harry's fever remained very high, and Kirsten was extremely worried until she caught Harry working on his History of Magic assignment one day. "Harry, what do you think you're doing?" she asked in a very upset voice, causing Harry to cringe.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this," he replied softly and explained about his homework.

"Kirsten, it's true. I saw the corrections his teacher is sending him back," Ryan threw in. "He must be an absolute git. Harry even apologized the day before yesterday and said he wasn't feeling well, but the teacher just demanded he should do twice as much on the next day."

"It's all right," Harry said quietly, rubbing his achy forehead.

Kirsten sighed and sat on the edge of Harry's bed. "I'm sorry for scolding you, Harry. I didn't know you were under such pressure. However, at the moment, your health is more important than any school work, and I'm going to tell your professor as much. How are you communicating with him?"

Harry pointed to the parchment on his night table. Kirsten reached out and read the last entries, getting very angry when she read Snape's last sentences in return to Harry's explanation that he wasn't feeling well and hadn't been able to do anything the day before. '_Potter, the Dark Lord won't care if you have a headache. You'll do twice the amount tomorrow_.'

When Harry sent two attachments on the following day, the teacher commented, '_Potter, you have to concentrate more on your homework, and your writing is atrocious_.'

"That's incredulous!" she said angrily as she reached for the quill and began to compose a reply, too upset to even question Harry's and the professor's method of communication.

'_Dear Professor Snape, this is Kirsten Cohen writing to you, Harry's foster mother. Harry has been very ill with the measles and an extremely high fever for the last week. If we don't manage to get his fever down soon, we'll have to admit him to the hospital, which I'm sure is neither in your, nor in our interest. I have forbidden Harry to do any more school work until his condition improves, and I will keep you informed about his condition. Yours sincerely, Kirsten Cohen_.'

_

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tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction. Please inform me if there are great errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	8. Letters

**Chapter 8 – ****Letters**

A few minutes later, a reply appeared on the parchment. '_Thank you for your information, Mrs. Cohen. Are you sure that Mr. Potter is not trying to wriggle himself out of doing his most important assignments?_'

"What!" Kirsten blurted out, terrified. "Harry, is that the teacher who brought you here last month?"

"Yes. He absolutely hates me," Harry admitted. "Why are you asking? Did he write something nasty back?"

Kirsten sighed and read Snape's question aloud, causing Harry to groan and end up in a coughing fit. "Easy, sweetie," Kirsten said gently and helped him sit up, before she handed him a glass of water. "Harry, do you have a method to communicate with the Headmaster as well?"

"No."

"Mum," Seth, who had so far been quietly sitting on the edge of Ryan's bed, spoke up. "Why don't you invite the git to come and check on Harry, provided he already had the measles?"

"That's a good idea," Kirsten agreed, throwing Harry a questioning look.

"Maybe he can bring Harry a potion that makes him feel better faster," Ryan threw in. "You said he was the Potions Master, didn't you, Harry?"

"Potions?" Kirsten queried, inspecting Harry's quill with interest.

Harry let out a deep sigh, before he coughed again. "Can you tell her, please, Seth, Ryan?"

"Harry is a wizard and his school is a school for magic," Seth informed a stunned Kirsten.

"That explains your strange yet comfortable communication method," she said thoughtfully. "Would Professor Snape be able to make you feel better with magic, Harry?"

"Um, I'm not sure, because this is a Muggle, err... a non magical illness, but anyway, you can't ask him. It's bad enough to be such a burden to you, but I can't ask..."

"Harry," Kirsten interrupted him in a very upset voice. "You are not a burden to us, neither Ryan nor you are. All three of you are my sons, and it's not a burden for a mother to look after her sons."

Harry wearily reached for her cold hand. "Thank you, Kirsten, and please don't tell anyone except for Sandy that I'm a wizard. They allowed me to tell you if necessary, but no one else can know."

"No problem, sweetie. Don't worry about that," Kirsten replied softly, gently stroking his hot skin. "Now, what are we going to do with Professor Snape?"

Harry sighed. "In case you invite him here, you have to warn him that I have the Muggle measles, because there is also an illness called Wizard's measles."

"I think I'm merely going to write a nasty comment back," Kirsten finally decided and grabbed the quill.

'_Professor Snape, unfortunately, Harry tried to hide his indisposition from us for at least three days, which caused his condition to worsen immensely. Since I am the one to take his temperature and check his rash every four hours, I know fairly well how ill he is. I had a hard time to get him away from his books, and only when I threatened to chain him to the bed or take him to the hospital, he grudgingly put his homework away. My other sons, Seth and Ryan, suggested to invite you here, so you could visualize his condition; however, Harry told me that he is worried because he is sick with the Muggle and not the wizard's measles and you might not be immune to the disease. Yours sincerely, Kirsten Cohen_.'

"What did you write, Mum?" Seth asked curiously as Kirsten put the quill and the parchment aside.

Kirsten quickly informed them, laying her cold hand on Harry's arm. "Don't worry, sweetie; everything will be all right. Now, close your eyes and try to sleep for a while. The same goes for you, Ryan." She lightly placed a kiss on Harry's forehead and stood up, closing the blinds a little more than they were always shut to shade the sick boys' sensitive eyes from the hot July sun.

'_Kirsten is wonderful_,' Harry mused, feeling extremely happy. '_She behaves like a real mother. What she did is exactly what Mrs. Weasley would have done for Ron. I'm glad Dumbledore sent me here over the holidays. These are the best holidays I ever had_.'

When Kirsten returned to the room an hour later, she was glad to see that Harry was asleep with a smile playing on his face. She glanced at the parchment to see if the professor had replied, finding only a short sentence.

'_Very well; please keep me informed_.'

'_I will_,' Kirsten mused, resolving to keep a close eye on Harry. '_He seems to have grown up as unloved as Ryan. I think both of them need to be pampered or even babied for once_.' She looked at the two boys' flushed faces and could hardly keep her mother instincts at bay that told her to bathe their hot faces and make them feel better. However, knowing that the two needed their rest, she quietly left the room to speak with Sandy about Harry.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the next week, Ryan's and Harry's conditions improved greatly, and by the end of the week, Ryan was even allowed out of bed. However, he spent most of his time keeping Harry company, especially to distract him from the unnerving fact that Kirsten was watching him like a hawk, so he couldn't work on his homework at all.

One day, Seth managed to coax Ryan into going out together with Summer and Marissa, and Harry busied himself doing his Herbology essay in his mind. Suddenly, the door opened and Kirsten entered the room together with Sandy, causing Harry to throw them a curious look. Sandy often checked on him, especially during the nights; however, so far, the two Cohens had never entered the room together.

"Harry, are you feeling well enough to speak with us for a moment?" Kirsten asked softly.

"Of course," Harry replied in surprise, hating how hoarse his voice still sounded.

"We want to suggest something to you," Sandy began hesitantly, throwing his wife a help searching look.

"Harry," Kirsten said, taking a seat on the edge of Ryan's bed, "we were wondering if you wanted us to become your permanent guardians. At the moment, we're only your temporary guardians over this summer, but we'd be happy to apply for the permanent guardianship over you if that was what you wanted."

'_They want to become my guardians and replace the Dursleys completely?_' Harry mused in disbelief. '_Although I've been nothing but trouble for them all the time?_'

"Harry, don't feel any pressure by our offer. We understand if that's not what you want," Sandy explained gently.

"No no," Harry hurriedly replied, before he continued in a whisper, "It's just so hard to understand that someone willingly wants to take me in. I've been such a bother all these weeks."

Kirsten jumped from her seat and stepped over to Harry, sitting on the side of his bed, before she pulled him in a bear hug. "Oh sweetie, I told you that you're not a bother. You're a very sweet boy, just like Ryan and Seth, and we want to take you in very much."

"Although you know about the... um...?" Harry slowly trailed off.

"Magic?" Kirsten gently completed his question.

"Err... yeah," Harry breathed, sighing in relief at the woman's kindness.

"Harry, we don't mind that at all. Each of us has his or her own qualities, and you have a wonderful ability. That's no problem for us," Sandy said quietly.

"Exactly," Kirsten agreed, smiling.

Harry gratefully gripped her cool hand, trying hard to suppress the tears that were threatening to leak out from his eyes. "But how can you get the guardianship? Should I write a letter to the Headmaster?"

"That would probably be the best way," Sandy agreed.

"I have to write a normal letter to a friend. She has my owl at the moment and can forward the letter to Professor Dumbledore," Harry explained.

"I could ask Professor Snape if there was an easier way," Kirsten suggested, but Harry slightly shook his head.

"I think it's better not to involve Snape. You might have noticed by now that he hates me," he croaked, only to add, "and this feeling won't have changed, considering that I haven't done any of my assignments for two weeks now."

"Kirsten is completely right, son. You're very ill and in no condition to do any school work," Sandy said sternly. "I'm going to have a word with the man when he comes to fetch you in a month's time."

After he had taken a short nap, Kirsten allowed Harry to get up for a short while to write his letter to the Headmaster. She gently led him into the kitchen and motioned him to the table, hoping that he would feel well enough to attend dinner afterwards. Harry tried to explain his exact reasons for wanting the Cohens as permanent guardians and folded the parchment a few times to fit in the envelope Kirsten handed him.

"I hope he'll agree and not pass the decision on to Snape like he seems to have delegated everything concerning my summer holidays," he said hoarsely, throwing Kirsten a worried look.

_

* * *

tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction. Please inform me if there are great errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	9. Guardianship Matters

**Chapter ****9 – Guardianship Matters**

"We can only wait and see. I'll ask Seth to post your letter after dinner," Kirsten said soothingly, looking sharply at Harry. "Are you feeling well enough to eat dinner with us?"

"Not really," Harry admitted in a small voice, throwing Kirsten an apologetic look.

"I thought so," she said softly, brushing a light kiss against his forehead to unobtrusively check his temperature. "Why don't you lie down on the sofa for a while? Maybe you'll feel a bit better later on."

"Okay," Harry agreed. "I'd like to have dinner together with everyone," he whispered as Kirsten gently helped him to the sofa.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

After another week, Harry's rash finally vanished. However, he was still running a slight fever, and his throat remained sore. "I'm very sorry, sweetie, but if your fever won't come down within the next few days, I have to take you to the doctor," Kirsten said resolutely, glancing at the 101.0 on the display.

'_I have to think of something_,' Harry mused as he replied, "I feel fine though. May I please continue doing my homework now, before the professor kills me?"

Kirsten sighed. "If your fever comes down, you may. If you feel well enough to read, you may read my daily communication with Professor Snape. We have exchanged many words in the meantime."

With a feeling of foreboding Harry reached for the parchment, realising terrified that Kirsten had told Snape everything she had found out about the Dursleys' treatment of him. To his surprise, the teacher seemed to be quite understanding about the matter.

"Harry," Kirsten's voice pulled him out of his readings. "Sandy and I have to go out for a company event tonight. Seth and Ryan will be here for you. Please remember that they take your temperature and give you your medicine. I'll check on you as soon as we're back tonight."

"No problem," Harry replied, smiling inwardly at the prospect of being able to study during the evening.

However, his friends had other ideas. As soon as the Cohens had left for their party, Seth entered Ryan's and Harry's room. "I fetched some pizza for us, and I brought some DVDs. Shall we watch them together in the living room?"

Harry groaned inwardly. '_I need to do my homework_,' he thought, but not wanting to refuse, he joined the two boys.

"Harry, are you still feeling sick, or don't you like pizza?" Seth asked, seeing that Harry pushed his plate away after a small piece.

"I'm fine, but I'm not really hungry," Harry replied in a small voice. "Oh no, I need to go and take my medicine," he suddenly remembered.

"Oh right, and also take your temperature please. Mum reminded me of that before she left," Seth said, looking up from his pizza.

"Okay," Harry replied and slowly returned to the pool house. He lay down on his bed, grudgingly placing the thermometer under his tongue. '_My fever should have gone away at least a week ago_,' he mused, '_but I don't want Kirsten to take me to a doctor. I'll try to hide it from them, and if I'm still feeling ill when I return to Hogwarts, I'll go to Madam Pomfrey_,' he decided and took the annoying stick out instead of waiting until the reading was finished. '_Just under one hundred, that's good_,' he thought and placed the thing on his night table, knowing that Kirsten would check the result later on.

He quickly took his medicine, ignoring the small voice at the back of his mind that told him, '_She'll take my temperature again in the morning, and I won't be able to fool her if she's in the same room_.' After downing a glass of water, he returned to the living room, where Ryan and Seth were waiting for him, asking which of the videos he wanted to watch.

"I don't know any of them, so I have no idea. Anything you decide will be fine with me," he replied, smiling, as he made himself comfortable on the sofa, where he drifted off to sleep within minutes.

"If you ask me, he's still unwell," Ryan told Seth in a small voice. "Kirsten seems to be very worried." They decided to let Harry sleep and only woke him up when the film was over and they retired to their own rooms.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

In the morning, Kirsten entered the pool house, seeing that both boys were still asleep. She slightly opened the blinds and sat on the edge of Harry's bed.

"Morning," Harry mumbled tiredly.

"Good morning, sweetie; how are you feeling?"

"Better I think," Harry mumbled, trying to force his eyes open in spite of the headache that was still bothering him.

"I saw your fever came down a bit last night," Kirsten said softly. "Let's see if it stayed down."

Harry lazily allowed her to place the stick under his tongue, feverishly trying to wake up enough to be able to proceed with his plan. Fortunately, Fawkes decided to arrive in a flash of fire that very instant, and Harry used the fact that Kirsten was distracted by looking at the bird in amazement to unobtrusively wave his hand at his mouth, causing the reading to stop. Seconds later, the thermometer beeped and Kirsten plucked it from his lips, sighing in relief as she examined the display.

"Thank God, Harry, your temperature stayed down," she said, before she threw Harry a curious look, pointing to Fawkes, who decided to rest on Harry's forearm.

"That's Fawkes, our Headmaster's familiar," Harry explained, feeling very bad for lying to Kirsten. He took the parchment Fawkes had brought for him and read the Headmaster's letter, before he handed it to the woman.

'_Dear Harry, I'm glad you found a new family. Congratulations! The Cohens merely have to sign the parchments, and Fawkes will take them straight to the Ministry of Magic. From there, the information will be sent to the respective Muggle authorities. As soon as the Cohens receive the confirmation of the guardianship from there, they are free to adopt you. By now, he probably has told you, Harry, but I have assigned the magical guardianship over you to Professor Snape. I had to ask him for his consent in this matter, and he strongly recommended Mrs. Cohen as your new Muggle guardian. Perhaps a little 'Thank you' to Professor Snape is in order. I'll see you at the beginning of the school year. Albus Dumbledore_.'

"That sounds good. May I take it over to the house and show it to Sandy? Will you come down for breakfast, Harry? Ryan seems not to wake up by our commotion. He likes to sleep in anyway."

"Okay; I'll be there in a few minutes," Harry agreed and slowly scrambled out of his bed as Kirsten left the room to give him some privacy.

"Where do we have to sign?" Sandy asked, fetching a pen from the shelf, as Harry entered the living room with Fawkes on his shoulder.

"Here," Harry pointed out, and his soon to become Muggle guardians quickly signed the parchments, before they watched in amazement as Fawkes flashed away in a small flame.

"Harry, are you feeling all right?" Sandy queried in obvious concern. "You're still very pale."

Kirsten threw the youngest of her boys a worried look, taking in the perspiration on his forehead. "His temperature is still slightly elevated, but it's much better than during the last days. Otherwise, I'd have taken him to the doctor today," she said thoughtfully. "Why don't you lie down here on the sofa and rest, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "I'd love to do so, but I really have to work on my summer assignments today. Can I?" he asked hesitantly.

Kirsten let out a long sigh of exasperation. "Frankly speaking I don't like it, but I can understand you only too well. You may study until lunchtime and then you'll spend some time here and take a nap. Why don't you bring your homework down here?"

Harry agreed and spent the rest of the day on the sofa, taking turns studying and napping, unaware of the fact that the Cohens were observing him in concern.

"Kirsten, are you sure he's well enough to leave tomorrow morning?" Sandy asked his wife in the evening when Harry was fast asleep and Seth and Ryan had gone out to meet with their friends.

"He doesn't seem very well, but don't forget that he has been very ill for four weeks," Kirsten said pensively. "When I sent him to the pool house to take his medicine and check his temperature earlier, it was still the same as in the morning. We still have to check it since it's not completely gone, but perhaps the trip will do him good. It'll at least be fortunate if the boys spend much time outside."

"All right then, shall I carry him up to his bed?" Sandy offered and, seeing his wife nod, scooped Harry into his arms and brought him to bed. '_He feels quite warm_,' he thought but became distracted by his other two sons, who just entered the house and began to question him about his plans for the following day.

_

* * *

tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews – I appreciate them very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction. Please inform me if there are great errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


	10. Home

**Chapter ****10 – Home**

Harry woke up to loud voices next to his bed. When he lazily opened his eyes, he realised that everyone was assembled in Ryan's and his room, singing the birthday song. '_Is it my birthday?_' he thought in confusion as he pushed a whispered "Good morning" out of his sore throat.

"Good morning, birthday boy," Kirsten was the first to congratulate him, before she lightly pressed a kiss on his forehead, frowning at the warmth her lips met. She was just about to question Harry about his well-being when her mobile phone rang and she stepped aside to explain to her father for the umpteenth time why she was going to take another week off.

In the meantime, Sandy, Seth and Ryan congratulated Harry and coaxed him to get ready for breakfast. "Harry, we're going to leave for a week's trip to the seaside. Seth and Ryan already packed a bag for you, but please make sure you have everything you'll need for the week," Sandy instructed Harry, who nodded his understanding.

"To the seaside?" he asked in a small voice, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible in spite of not feeling too well. "I've never ever been to the sea." He tried his best to munch a small piece of his birthday cake and impatiently waited for Kirsten to join them. '_I should tell her that I don't feel well_,' he mused, realising that his fever had probably gone up overnight. However, when Kirsten finally joined them, she was busy telling Sandy about her father's problems with her taking care of her sons, and after breakfast, Harry once tried to address her in private but was immediately interrupted by Ryan, who reminded him to take Snape's parchment with him.

Harry packed the parchment and his homework and took two pills of his medicine, absentmindedly nodding when Ryan asked if he should pack the medicine and the thermometer.

"Harry, you look sick," Ryan said bluntly. "Are you feeling all right?"

"No, but I can't tell them, considering all the preparations they've made," Harry replied in a small voice as he sat on the edge of his bed, leaning his achy head against a bedpost. "I'll be all right though; I'll just lie on the beach and rest; that's what people do at the seaside, isn't it?"

"Harry, Ryan, are you ready? We're going to leave," Seth suddenly shouted, looking through the door.

"We're coming," Harry replied, glad when Seth shouldered his bag and took it with him. A few minutes later, he sat in the back of Sandy's car next to Ryan, who had taken the seat in the middle. Harry thankfully rested his head against the cool glass of the window, pretending to watch the landscape as Sandy drove along the coast, until he finally stopped the car in the parking lot of a five-storied building.

'_Welcome to Sea Parks Resort_,' a sign told them as they entered the building. Harry looked around in awe. Never before had he seen such a beautiful place. The hotel lobby consisted of small groups of sofas, divided from the other parts by small palm trees, and the back side of the room was dominated by a huge window that allowed the view onto the sea. He gratefully followed Seth's and Ryan's example and let himself sink on one of the comfortable sofas, while Kirsten and Sandy proceeded with the check in.

A few minutes later, Sandy and Ryan went to fetch the luggage from the car, while Kirsten led Seth and Harry into their apartment on the second floor. It consisted of a very bright living room, one bedroom with a double bed, one room with three single beds, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen. From the two bedrooms, they had a beautiful view onto the open sea that was only separated from the hotel through a sand beach.

Seeing that Harry was shivering violently, Kirsten threw him a concerned look, all of a sudden remembering that she had completely forgotten to check on the boy before they left. "Are you cold, Harry?" she asked worriedly.

"It's a bit cold here, isn't it?" Harry asked, glancing at the air condition.

"Let's just go out on the beach; it will be much warmer outside," Seth said, smirking.

"That's a good idea," Kirsten said warmly, resolving to watch Harry closely. "Let's quickly change and head outside."

Ten minutes later, the group went outside, and while Sandy and Kirsten made themselves comfortable on their towels at a half-shadowy spot on the beach, the three boys went straight into the water, taking a beach ball with them.

'_This is the best birthday I ever had_,' Harry mused as he tried to catch the ball. Unfortunately, he felt worse by the minute, and the cold water caused him to shiver violently, which didn't go unnoticed by his friends.

"Harry, I think you should go and lie down on the beach. You'll aggravate your condition even more," Ryan said softly, carefully extending a hand to feel Harry's forehead. "You're burning up," he stated, causing Seth to give Harry a sharp look.

"Why didn't you tell Mum if you were still feeling unwell? You should know by now that she loves to baby you."

"I don't need to be babied," Harry replied, upset. "I didn't feel so bad before. It's just the cold water."

"Well, let's take you back to Mum and Dad," Seth said in an apologizing voice.

"No, it's all right. I can walk by myself," Harry assured his friends and slowly went back to the beach. He lay down on the towel next to where Kirsten was engrossed in a book and curled up, inwardly sighing in relief as he closed his achy eyes.

Only when Kirsten let her book sink down to look out for the boys, her eyes fell on the curled up figure next to her. "Harry," she said in surprise, "didn't you want to stay in the water and play anymore?"

Harry slowly turned his head towards the voice and lazily opened his eyes. "'Twas cold in the water," he replied softly, and Kirsten noticed in concern that he was slurring the words.

"Harry, are you feeling ill again?" she queried, leaning over to the boy.

"A bit," Harry admitted in a small voice, feeling too bad to care what was happening any more.

"Harry, did you take your temperature this morning?" Kirsten asked softly, placing a cool hand on his forehead.

"No, Mum; I don't feel good," he mumbled, shivering violently under her cold touch. Suddenly, he felt very weak and sick and wanted nothing more than to be taken care of by Kirsten.

"I think you have a high fever again. I'm sorry, but I need you to come with me into our rooms, so I can check on you, sweetie." She gently helped Harry to get up and steadied him on the way back to their rooms. Firmly tucking Harry into his bed, she searched for the thermometer and proceeded to take his temperature. "103.8," she read from the display. "Harry, you're still taking your medicine, aren't you?"

"Yes; you told me I should take it until it's finished," Harry whispered, unconsciously leaning into the cold touch as Kirsten gently laid her hand on his hot cheek, while she pondered what to do.

"Does anything hurt, Harry?" she asked finally, switching her mobile phone on.

"My throat and my head," Harry replied, suddenly feeling miserable at the loss of the cold touch. He wearily reached out for her hand and unconsciously pulled her close, looking at her from his half-open glassy eyes.

"All right," Kirsten replied worriedly and dialled the number of Seth's doctor. She had to wait for a few minutes, before Harry heard her explain his problems to someone. She listened intensely, asked a few questions, explained about being at the seaside resort and finally finished the conversation. "Harry, stay put, I'll be back in a blink," she told him and hurriedly left the room, only to return with a pen, a small piece of paper and a spoon. "Harry, please open your mouth as wide as you can and let me look at your throat," she said softly, pressing down his tongue with the spoon as he complied.

She sighed as she sat back on the edge of his bed and scribbled something on the small paper. "You have a bad throat infection. The doctor told me that it's a very rare problem that can occur as an after effect to the measles, especially after such a bad case as yours was. The doctor promised me to phone the apothecary, so Sandy should be able to pick up your medicine, and I'm afraid you'll need to stay in bed for the moment. If you feel comfortable enough on the beach, you may rest outside though as soon as we manage to get your fever down a bit."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Fortunately, the medicine helped, and after a week of resting and being looked after by Kirsten, Harry felt completely well. Since he wasn't able to enjoy his time at the seaside at all, the Cohens prolonged their stay at the resort, and during the second week, Harry spent the whole day swimming and playing in the water with Seth and Ryan. In the evenings, the five members of the family used to sit on the beach together, where Harry told them everything about his experiences at Hogwarts, feeling very happy that his new brothers and parents were taking an interest in his life at the school.

Kirsten once more resolutely forbade him to do any homework and told Snape as much, so that Harry had to spend the remaining two weeks of the holidays catching up on his assignments. However, he finished everything in time and even managed to read all of his new school books until the end of the holidays.

In the meantime, the guardianship papers arrived from the Muggle authorities, and on the day before Snape was supposed to take Harry back to Hogwarts, Kirsten and Sandy could legitimately adopt Harry. "You're now officially Harry Potter-Cohen," Kirsten said softly, smiling at Ryan, whose name they had finally changed as well.

"Thank you," Harry whispered gratefully, feeling very happy at the thought of having a real family for the first time in his life. "I'm going to miss you," he added, knowing that he might become homesick at Hogwarts for the very first time.

"Harry, Professor Snape promised to give you his part of the charmed parchment, so we'll be able to communicate every day. Moreover, it's only three months until Christmas, and I hope you'll be able to come home for Christmas. Considered that you're our adopted son, I don't think anyone can forbid you to return home," Kirsten said softly, pulling her youngest son in a bear hug.

"They won't," Harry promised. "I will come home on the first day of the winter holidays." '_Right; home_,' he mused. '_How nice to have a place I can call home apart from Hogwarts_.'

**The End**

_

* * *

Thank you so much for your kind support throughout this story – I appreciate it very much!_

_I am not a native speaker of English. __Please excuse my mistakes or help me correct them. Please remember that I've never watched O.C. I only know it from fanfiction; please excuse any errors in the characterization. _

_I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter or O.C. I'm merely borrowing them to play with them for this little story – just for fun. I'm not earning anything by writing this._


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